The invention relates to the tagging and rating of web pages. More specifically, the invention allows the viewer to tag, rate or otherwise annotate a web page without leaving the subject web page.
A web site is a source of stored or dynamically generated web pages. Web pages consist of ascii text and are expressed in formal languages such as HyperText Markup Language (HTML) (or possibly eXtensible Markup Language (XML)). Web pages are usually sent from one machine (the server) to another (the client). The two machines may be the same, but ordinarily they are separate machines that communicate via a network.
The term “server” can mean both the physical machine that is sending web pages, and the software on the machine that responds to requests for web pages. Where it is necessary to distinguish, the term “web server” is used herein for the former.
The client requests a web page from the server using a Universal Resource Locator (URL) or web address. A URL has three parts: the protocol by which the client wants to talk to the server, the name of the server, and a third part, which is called the “request”, that indicates what the client wants the server to send it. The prefix “http” indicates the protocol the client uses to send the request to the server; www.seashellsoftheworld.com is the name of the server to which the request is to be sent; and “dr.seymoreshmithtreatise-conshofFlorida.html” is the request that is to be sent to the server. Most servers would interpret “dr.seymoreshmithtreatise-conshofSFlorida.html” as a request for an html file stored on disk, and would respond by reading the file and sending it to the client.
A web page usually contains some amount of text plus html operators specifying how to display the page on the screen. The client software (e.g. a web browser, here preferably Microsoft® Explorer) has considerable leeway in deciding how to display the page to the user. The aspect of the display of web pages relevant to the invention is the display of links and forms.
A wireless communication system allows mobile users to access a resource from a content server. The wireless communication system includes a browser that allows mobile users to access resources through a wireless application protocol (WAP) compliant server. The (WAP) compliant server connects the browser to a content server. This connection allows resources to be passed between the browser and the (WAP) compliant server. As used herein, “internet” and “web page” include WAP compliant access methods. The browser is further configured to transmit a request that includes an address for a resource, a protocol to be used, and one or more textual parameters encoded into a binary data packet. The wireless communication method includes generating a request for a resource; translating a textual portion of that request into binary data at the browser; transmitting the request to a wireless gateway; and converting the request into a format that is compatible with a protocol used by a receiving network.
A link is usually a combination of text and/or an image, plus a URL. Typical client software will display the text or image with an underline or outline, or some other indication that the text is active. The user can indicate that he wants to follow that link, usually by clicking on it with a mouse. Herein the phrase “to click on a link” refers to a general term to mean whatever method the user uses to indicate that he wants to follow a link.
When the user clicks on a link, the request in the associated URL is sent to the web server mentioned in that URL. Usually the request will cause the server to send the client another web page, which will in turn contain other links, resulting in an ongoing series of requests from the client interleaved with web pages sent in reply by the server(s).
A form is like a link in that it includes places (i.e. “buttons”) where the user can click to send a request to a server, but it can also include “fields”, through which the user can send additional information along with the request. For example, a form field might be a menu of choices, a box in which the user can type text, or a button that the user can toggle on or off.
Client software is capable of browsing a conventional web site, meaning that the software is able to: (1) display web pages in some form to the user; (2) display links so that the user can click on them to send the corresponding request to the server named in the URL; (3) display forms so that the user can enter information into each field, and click on some button to send the corresponding request, plus the information entered by the user, to the server named in the URL; and (4) carry on an ongoing dialogue with a server, where requests from the client alternate with web pages from the server.
The term “link” includes both links and forms, along with any other element of a web page that has an associated URL, and which a user can click on to send the request in the URL to the server mentioned there.
Two elements are required to publish web pages on a global computer network such as the Internet or on an intranet: (1) an authoring tool: software for creating and maintaining the web pages; and (2) a server: a computer that can send (or “serve”) the web pages to clients who request them. To avoid the expense and difficulty of maintaining their own web servers, users often share servers maintained by someone else. On the Internet, a company that maintains a web server shared by multiple users is called a hosting service. Within a corporate network, a server maintained by the MIS department might play the role of a hosting service for users within the company.
Systems exist that allow tagging and saving of web pages though lacking the critical feature of the present invention. For example, the My Yahoo page has a method for users to save and tag web pages, sharing them with defined groups or with everyone (universal unrestricted). The My Yahoo system, however, requires the user to go over to the Yahoo system and search that system using the Yahoo search engine for the desired content. In other words, the Yahoo system is proprietary, i.e., closed. The system deployed under the name Googlebase is similar in function to the system of Yahoo, and shares the same deficiencies. In contrast, the present invention works without leaving the subject page. This is especially important with regard to the user input rating and linking system, which is completely different than the Yahoo or Googlebase methods.
Another example is found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,581,061 to Graham, which is directed to a remote web site authoring system located on a server in communication with one or more clients via a network with in a distributed computing environment. The system provides a what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) interface program that enables the client to edit a web page within a web site maintained on the remote server while concurrently viewing a replica of that web page. The system of Graham dynamically generates the replica of the web page while the client is editing the web page. The system combines the two elements of remote authoring, i.e., editing the web site and viewing the web site, enabling the user to view a replica of the web site during the editing process. The purpose of this system is to allow an authorized web master to remotely edit and permanently change his or her own material. In contrast, the present invention is for use by third party users, allowing them to add content and interact with data objects while not being allowed to alter their original form, and to receive targeted advertisements.